Marty came here. Payroll was a then-record 100 MILLION dollars. Marty kept 22 guys. He replaced 31. 13 of the new guys were ROOKIES. He FIRED VINNY. He reduced payroll to 53 MILLION by letting go of almost all the high priced talent (can you say Deion?).

We went 0-5 and then 8-3 the rest of the way with TONY BANKS at QB.

We need to do this again. Let go of (release, trade, whatever makes sense) virtually every high priced guy. Accumulate compensatory picks. Pick LINEMEN. Find a runner. They are everywhere. If the hole is there Rock or Betts or some other guy (did we cut a guy named Mason?) we never heard of who costs less than 1 million can run through it and if it's not there he can slam it up in there for a yard or two. We should NEVER spend big bucks or 1st round picks on a runner.

Many teams have shown us we could be better than we are now in TWO years while getting YOUNGER and CHEAPER.

'Fraid I'm going to having to agree with Monk on this one. While we all have our favorite players, our ultimate allegiance is supposed to be the team. These "core" players are sucking the life (not to mention payroll) out of this team. I would love to see an injection of youth and wise football decisions. Personally, I don't think Allen is the answer, but I'm pretty sure so far that Vinny isn't either. The only way we are going to attract quality personnel (staff, etc.) is if we start making smart football decisions.

$.02

<~~~~~Runs with scissors X
(_E=mc2_)

“This is where I'm most comfortable, ... This is my life, where I work. I'm definitely glad to be back.” #21

I have to say that, the more I study the team this offseason, the more I am finding myself in agreement with the 'blow it up' mentality. The only unit I feel really good about is our secondary. The RBs are still a very good unit, IMO. LBs will be okay for another year at the most, but we need some fresh talent there, too. I'm also on record as supporting JC for another year before looking to replace him.

But it all starts with the lines, and blowing both of them up seems like the only true way forward, IMO.

"I’m never under the assumption that you draft for need. You draft the best available football player on the board. ... Because, in the long run, they are the ones who will help you win the most games." - Scot McCloughan

Bob 0119 wrote:It's easy to feel hopeless with so many posters beating the drum about how much the Redskins suck, but when you really look at it, they aren't too far off the mark of being a really good team.

Yeah, it's the posters. The years of mediocrity have nothing to do about it.

This franchise has been under the impression that they're 1-2 players away from being a contender for as long as I can remember. They feed that BS to the masses and they eat it right up. It's a lie, it's a crock.

'blow it up' is extream. we can selectivly blow up players that are old and expensive. that doesnt mean take out CP or jump ship with JC. but our O line is old and over paid, our D line is old and over paid. our LBs are blah. to me these seem like the most important parts of a team. blow that part up (and maybe expensive wide outs) and replace with young guns while we grow a new class of back up RBs and wide outs.

I don't feel hopeless, and I think I've got a clear enough record on THN for not doing knee-jerk reactions alongside the more. . .unstable. . .board members. Yet I still think that we should do something that looks a little closer to blowing the team up than tweaking one or two things.

Our defense is very good statistically but there is one area where we are very weak: QB pressure and sacks. We simply haven't been a threat to other teams. Our younger DTs have had enough time to prove themselves, and I think Golston and Montgomery will only ever serve in the role of being cogs. Now, cogs are necessary for every team. You need quality players that can come in off the bench and perform. They will be that for us, no doubt in my mind, but we have to put some talent in front of them.

Our offensive line was relatively healthy throughout this past season, but they still fell apart as the year progressed. This was no coincidence. Our problems during the 2-6 stretch started there.

I don't think our WRs are serviceable any longer. Moss' role should diminish over the next 3-5 years (before his retirement) as we find the new talent that will be our #1 and, eventually, #2 receivers. He will continue to contribute. I've already been vocal on THN about ARE.

These kinds of changes are not tweaks. Now, why do I advocate this kind of change after an 8-8 year for Zorn? Why do I see 8-8 as the glass-half-empty? (By the way, I'm still an optimist!) I think for two reasons:

(1) First, the obvious. Yes, we went 8-8, but we also were 6-2 before landing at 8-8. It would be one thing to go 2-6 but finish 8-8 (didn't the Chargers do that?). But we clearly started strong and then had a noticeable decline. In my mind, 8-8 after starting 6-2 is more than a coincidence—just like 8-8 after starting 0-5 is more than a coincidence.

(2) My second reason is a more subtle version of point (1) above. Our decline seemed to me a systemic thing. Not just frustration or a couple of bad games. My own perspective on watching the team play was that the team didn't have what it took to win. The Pittsburgh and Ravens games were perfect examples of this. I really don't think we were ever 'in' either game. We got dominated. To my eyes, both of those teams were playing on a different level than us. Both times that we played the NY Giants I had a similar feeling: "we just aren't on the same tier as these guys."

Our most impressive wins of the year came against Philly (2), Arizona, and Dallas. Philly was an uneven team this year, Arizona had their typical road-game troubles, and Dallas was simply overrated. I'm not trying to minimize our achievements in these games, but what I'm saying is that our most impressive games are somewhat qualified and our least impressive games made us look really bad.

So I've come to the conclusion that we're not going to 'make it work' with just one or two more tweaks. I think when Gibbs was in charge of the team we were at about that level. Gibbs was missing a good quarterback, a Monk-type receiver, and a dominant D-Lineman (boy, did welch call that exactly back in the day, or what?!). If he had those pieces, I think we would have gone to an NFC Championship game, at least. (Not to mention Sean's death.)

But here we are, now two years removed from when Gibbs was in complete control. Griffin is DONE. Springs is DONE. Taylor, unfortunately, did not work out, and I don't think he will. Moss is not likely to regain much form. Marcus Washington is likely done. Jansen is DONE. One of our two guards is likely done. If Fletcher plays another year at a high level we will be very lucky. We will not ride Clinton Portis to the Superbowl the way the Cardinals rode Fitzgerald; he will be a role player, not a superstar.

Most of these guys I just listed were good enough 2-3 years ago to be a part of a Superbowl team. All of them have lost their edge, and in this league—a game of inches, after all—that's all it takes to go from playoff contender, to 8-8 mediocrity, to a 4-12 we-need-help-badly kind of team.

Bob 0119 wrote:It's easy to feel hopeless with so many posters beating the drum about how much the Redskins suck, but when you really look at it, they aren't too far off the mark of being a really good team.

Yeah, it's the posters. The years of mediocrity have nothing to do about it.

This franchise has been under the impression that they're 1-2 players away from being a contender for as long as I can remember. They feed that BS to the masses and they eat it right up. It's a lie, it's a crock.

Blow it up.

The team drafted 10 players last year and ALL 10 made the opening day 53-man roster. That means 10 other guys were cut or released to make room for the 10 rookies. That's not indicative of a team that thinks they're 1 or 2 players away from being a contender. With a new coach, a new offensive system and 10 rookies that made the team, I honestly believe last year was the start of a rebuilding process.

I actually see both sides here. We desperately need some youth on the lines and a RT, OG and a DT seem paramount. I also think we need an OLB very soon. That's not necessarily blowing it up, but I don't have a problem with cutting some of the older, past their prime, high priced veterans. I actually think that's going to happen anyway with many of them, assuming each individual case is economically and financially feasible.

But I also see Bob's point and I agree with him to a large degree. I don't believe we are that far off. An 8-8 record with a new offensive coaching staff and a completely new offensive system, a West Coast system that is at the complete opposite end of the spectrum system wise from what they've been in for over a decade, is not as bad as some would assert. In my opinion, even if the exact same personnel was used going into the 2009 season, just having a full offseason and another season is Zorn's system and I think they're better.

I see light at the end of the tunnel, but of course you have to keep your eyes open and looking in front of you to see the light. I just think many would rather keep looking backwards. I know the road traveled has been tough, but at some point you have to look forward.

Irn-Bru wrote:I have to say that, the more I study the team this offseason, the more I am finding myself in agreement with the 'blow it up' mentality. The only unit I feel really good about is our secondary. The RBs are still a very good unit, IMO. LBs will be okay for another year at the most, but we need some fresh talent there, too. I'm also on record as supporting JC for another year before looking to replace him.

But it all starts with the lines, and blowing both of them up seems like the only true way forward, IMO.

I'm not sure we can "blow up" the team from a salcap standpoint (i.e., Portis), but this is an aging team with depth issues. We need a few years of solid drafts to restock. We're most certainly NOT 1-2 players away.

I don't see quite as blowing it up. I see solid contributors here on our team. I guess I'm in the gray area between blowing it up and tweaking as you illustrated. I like Moss as a 2 or 3, I think we have at least 1 good TE. We havea solid secondary on defense. As noted many times, with 1 or 2 good tweaks, our defense can be completely sick. I am more of the mindset of blowing up the offense almost completely. This year, we put the no longer rooks out there and see what they have. Moss in the slot just makes me drool. CP still has a year or two (at the current rate they're running him in to the ground) and I think Sellers is pretty low mileage from looking at his career.

...any given Sunday....

RIP #21 Sean Taylor. You will be loved and adored by Redskins fans forever!!!!!

GSPODS:
The National Anthem sucks.
What a useless piece of propagandist rhetoric that is.

Blowing it up will take a lot longer than building around what we have - we have not been that good at bringing in players (both through the draft and free agency) that result in making our team better. Vinnie's crew needs to do a better job and start to get lucky

we do not need to blow it up and we do not need to bring in "impact" players like we used to - we just need to get younger and deeper and that will not take as long as "blowing it up" .

P A T I E N C E - The Redskins will improve the product on the field if Dan Snyder just let's Scott & his FO do their jobs Dan needs to stop screwing things up and let Scott get this franchise back together